SATURDAY, NOV. 2 | MICKE GROVE GOLF LINKS | LODI, CALIF.
- No. 16/RV Gonzaga will begin their 2024 postseason this Saturday at the WCC Championships.
- The 16th-ranked Zag women are looking to win their first WCC title since 2015.
- The GU women's top harriers are coming off a win at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 18.
- At that meet, all five Bulldog point-scorers claimed new top ten program 6K times.
- The Zag men are receiving votes in their fourth consecutive USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll.
- They are looking to defend their first-ever WCC Title, winning the crown last season in Malibu.
- The Zag men's top runners are coming off a third-place finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Oct. 11, where they defeated fellow WCC foe No. 25 Portland.
HOW TO FOLLOW
- Saturday's races will be streamed live on ESPN+. Coverage will include the 6K and 8K races, followed by the award ceremonies. Live results will be available at gozags.com.
SCOUTING THE WCC FIELD
- Behind the 3rd-ranked Zag women in the West Region, Washington State (5th), Oregon State (7th), and Portland (9th) each hold top-ten rankings.
- Nationally, only the Gonzaga women are ranked (16th), while Washington State is receiving votes. The Portland men are ranked 28th while GU is receiving votes.
- In the men's West Region Rankings, Gonzaga (5th), Portland (6th) and Washington State (9th) are each ranked in the top ten.
ABOUT THE COURSE
- The Micke Grove Golf Links course involves a 2-kilometer loop that begins on the course's first tee box and concludes on the ninth-hole green.
THE LATEST POLLS
- After their win at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 18, the Gonzaga women moved up two spots to another program-high No. 16 in the latest USTFCCCA National Poll.
- After opening the season at No. 30, the Zag men are receiving votes in the latest USTFCCCA national poll.Â
- In the West Regional poll, the Gonzaga women remain ranked at third while the men are ranked fifth, moving up one spot ahead of Portland this week.
NEXT UP
- The NCAA West Regional Championships will take place locally at the Colfax Golf Course and will be hosted by Washington State on Nov. 15.
ROSINA'S RANKING
- FloTrack ranks
Rosina Machu No. 6 in their latest NCAA DI Cross Country Individual rankings.
- The Boise-native opened the season at No. 7 and has seen rankings of #7, #10, #8 and #6.
- After leading the Gonzaga men and women to team titles at the Sasquatch Invite on Oct. 25,
Ireland Robertson and
Sean Janecko each won West Coast Conference Runner of the Week.
- The feat marks the fifth for the women and second for the men.
GONZAGA SWEEPS SASQUATCH INVITE
- For the fifth straight season, GU swept the Sasquate Invite
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Ireland Robertson broke the Spokane Polo Club course record to earn the individual title in the women's 5K and lead the Zag women to 20 team points.
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Sean Janecko placed fourth for the men, who scored 21 points in the 8K race.
MACHU EARNS SECOND WCC RUNNER OF THE WEEK NOD
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Rosina Machu was named West Coast Conferencr Runner of the Week for the second time this season on Tuesday (last - Oct. 1)
- Machu placed fourth at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Friday, leading the Zag women to an impressive team title ahead of 20 other participating teams.
ZAG WOMEN WIN BARRIOS TITLE
- In their final tune-up of the 2024 regular season, the Gonzaga women's top runners earned a team win at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 18 in College Station, Texas.
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Rosina Machu led the GU women with a fourth place finish, finishing in a program record time of 19:10.0.
- All five of Gonzaga's point-scorers earned a new top ten time in the program 6K record book, and all eight runners placed in the top 100 of a field of over 400 individuals.
NEW RECORD BOOK ENTRIES MADE IN TEXAS
- In their win at the Arturo Barrios Invitational on Oct. 18, five Zag women earned new program top ten times.
- Men's cross country's
Wil Smith was named the West Coast Conference Runner of the Week on Oct. 15, the first for the men.
- Smith led the Zag men to a third-place team finish at the Bill Dellinger Invitational on Oct. 11, placing ninth individually.
- His 23:15.2 finish was a ten-second improvement from his previous Bill Dellinger race (2021) on the same course.
BULLDOG MEN PLACE THIRD AT DELLINGER
- In their first appearance at the Bill Dellinger Invitational since 2021, the GU men placed third on Oct. 11 in Springfield, Ore.
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Wil Smith led the Bulldogs with a ninth-place individual finish, besting his previous time on the same course by ten seconds.
- GU defeated No. 25 Portland and finished just four points behind No. 22 Oregon in the team standings.
GRABOWSKI TABBED WCC RUNNER OF THE WEEK
- After winning her first collegiate race on Oct. 5,
Anna Grabowski was named the West Coast Conference Female Runner of the Week on Oct. 8.
- Grabowski finished the women's 6K in 21:30.0, leading the Zag women to their third meet win of the season as GU swept the podium finishes.
ZAGS SWEEP WHITMAN INVITATIONAL
- No. 18/RV cross country earned a program-wide sweep at the Whitman Invitational on Oct. 5 in Walla Walla, Wash.
- The Zag women opened the meet with a podium sweep behind
Anna Grabowski's (21:30.0) first collegiate race win.
- The Gonzaga men followed up with a win of their own behind leader
Nick Braz (24:32.5) who placed third individually.
- The meet marked Gonzaga's fourth team win of the season and fourth individual win.
MACHU EARNS WCC RUNNER OF THE WEEK
- After placing third at the Nuttycombe Invitational in 20:06.2,
Rosina Machu was named the West Coast Conference Runner of the Week on Oct. 1.
- Machu led the then No. 23 Zag women to their highest-ever finish at Nuttycombe, placing eighth as a team while knocking off four ranked teams.
- The honor marks Machu's fourth Runner of the Week of her career, earning three nods during the 2023 season.
CLIMBING IN THE POLLS
- The Gonzaga women moved up two spots in the latest USTFCCCA National Coaches' Poll to No. 16, marking their highest team ranking in program history.
- In the West Region, the Zag women now rank third, which ties their highest-ever ranking in that poll (Week 6 of 2021).
HISTORY MADE AT NUTTYCOMBE
- No. 23 Gonzaga women's cross country earned their highest team finish at the Nuttycombe Invitational on Sept. 27.
- GU placed eighth behind
Rosina Machu, who placed third to mark the highest individual finish in program history at that meet.
- Amidst the Bulldog women's eighth place finish were wins against No. 4 Oregon, No. 13 Lipscomb, No. 16 Virginia, and No. 22 Boston College.
- On the men's side, RV Gonzaga placed 17th to mark their highest team finish at Nuttycombe since 2021.
- The Zag men defeated three nationally-ranked teams in No. 23 Iona, No. 25 Montana State, and No. 29 Tulsa.
ZAG WOMEN SECURE COUGAR CLASSIC TITLE
- The No. 25 Gonzaga women's cross country team brought an incomplete squad to the Cougar Classic on Sept. 13 and took home the team title, backed by four top-ten finishes including a second-place finish from freshman
Logan Hofstee.
- Gonzaga scored 39 points, finishing ten points ahead of Boise State (49 points).
- The win marked the Bulldogs' first since 2021, alternating first and second place finishes in 2019, 2021, 2023, and 2024.
- Hofstee's second-place was the highest since
Kristen Garcia and Claire Manley won back-to-back titles in 2019 and 2021.
ANOTHER NOTABLE ZAG DEBUT
- GU women's cross country's Logan Hoftsee placed second in her collegiate debut at the Cougar Classic on Sept. 13.
- Since 2021, a Gonzaga woman has placed first or second in her team debut race on three separate occasions.
- In 2021,
Sadie Tuckwood won the Clash of the Inland Northwest in her first race. In 2023,
Jessica Frydenlund was the Clash of the Inland Northwest champion, also winning her Gonzaga debut.
ANOTHER CLASH SWEEP
- Gonzaga opened their season on Aug. 30 at the Clash of the Inland Northwest on Eastern Washington's campus.
- For the second straight season, the program swept both individual and team titles in commanding fashion.
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Jade Rypkema led the Zag women to a perfect score of 15 with her first collegiate individual win.
- The women have now won four team titles in five years, while the men have secured eight straight team titles.
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